BRADY'S BUNCH

Anyone else find it grotesque night after night to hear Mary Hart teasing her show with "more on the O.J. trial on `Entertainment Tonight' "?

In Chicago, Tribune Entertainment Co. hired Dick Bailey as Midwest ad sales director. He'd been with a division of Multimedia and previously with Blair TV.

Signs winter finally arrived: Cosmo hosted its annual ice skating party for advertisers, agencies and other pals at Sky Rink in Manhattan.

Mike McLaurin, who won that Newsweek contest for up and coming young ad folks, moved from JWT to Jerry & Ketchum in a bigger job in media.

Worth the price of the entire magazine ($3.95) are those smashing b&w photos by Edward Quinn of "the beautiful people" of the 1950s sporting on the Cote d'Azur, in the current issue of W. That shot of a smug Grace Kelly in the lobby of the Carlton at Cannes, the one of Edward G. Robinson and Kirk Douglas lounging against a big fendered car in the parking lot, and so many more. My God! Those people had glamor.

Advertising gadfly Charles Mandel retired (though he may still be doing some consulting) and is building a place on the golf course at Tarpon Springs, Fla., while he'll endeavor to lower his golf handicap, which he claims is 15 or 16. Natch, they had to have a roast. At the Friars Club. Jack Thomas organized. Says Charlie, "I could have ended up pushing a pushcart. Instead, I worked in advertising."

Bridal Guide is looking for a "bride of the year" and will give away a $40,000 wedding to the winner. Entry and other details will be in the March/April issue and the winning couple will be on the cover in September/October.

Finally, somebody who likes Hillary! Golf Digest surveyed members of the PGA Senior Golf tour asking if they had to drive all day in a car without a radio or CD player, with either the First Lady, Rush Limbaugh or former PGA Tour commish Deane Beman, whom would they choose? Hillary got 43%, Rush 33% and poor Beman a lousy 24%.

International Data Group, Boston, named Bernie Theobald VP of its marketing services division.

I don't know the basis on which they replaced Mary Simons as editor of Food & Wine magazine. But every time I talked with her about the business she was upbeat, informed and very gung ho about their editorial product.

That Phil Gramm is just pure charisma, isn't he?

And which one gets to be "the size of Asia" first? Newt or Teddy? They're both already larger than the late Tip O'Neill.

Anyone doing more consistently fine media reporting than Ken Auletta in The New Yorker? The Frank (Viacom) Biondi piece, for example.

Julie Lewit-Nirenberg reports that Mademoiselle, recently afflicted with the ad blahs, is up 22% in ad pages for the first quarter over '94, with 115 ad pages in the March number. New business includes Evian, Johnson & Johnson, Pontiac Sunfire, Colgate Platinum, Retin-A.

Gordon Franklin died, age 79, former Saks Fifth Avenue president and for 38 years the husband of Gwen Randolph, former fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar. Classy folks, both.

Referring to a tattered Democratic Party in the South, Paul Gigot on MacNeil/Lehrer, said the Dems "looked like the British infantry at Verdun." It was the French who fought at Verdun (against the Germans, bien sur).

They'll be remembering the immortal (thus, alas, passed from us) food writer Jim Beard at Le Cirque in Manhattan Feb. 26. A thousand a head with the proceeds going to the Beard Foundation. Sirio Maccioni of Le Cirque and Marvin Shanken of the Wine Spectator host while seven great chefs, including Paul Bocuse, slave away in the kitchen.

The Weather Channel not only does forecasts. They're promoting fine music. Bigtime violinist Gil Shaham dropped by the Atlanta studios recently to play (briefly) weathercaster. And then to premiere a videoclip in which he performs Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons," which Deustche Grammaphon will release Feb. 7.

The New York Post reports Courtney Love (the Widow Cobain) is now doing interior decorating for a select clientele, pals mostly. Hell, cancel Sister Parish; get me Courtney!